Eye-Openers: S.F. Dining’s New Golden Age and Wet Mattress Padding

Stories to kick start the day include the restaurant boom’s effect on restaurant real estate, another review of Park Tavern, another four stars for Eric Ripert in New York, and much more reading, coming up.

From the local scene:

How San Francisco dining’s “new golden age” has affected dining real estate. Also, Thad Vogler shares his theory on why last year’s crop, arrived through a recession, was so special: “I think this recent group of restaurants is this strongest group ever, because we’ve worked so hard to get things open …They’re survivors who wouldn’t let things go under.”[Bloomberg]

Jonathan Kauffman reviews Park Tavern: “Park Tavern still has its green spots, but it is already a successful restaurant, a place that understands who’s dining there and gives them what they want: stiff cocktails, strong food, and a few winks — pork belly bites, “boozy floats” for dessert — to remind them to enjoy themselves.” [SF Weekly]

From the national scene:

Ryan Sutton gives four stars to Le Bernardin: “There’s no better Manhattan venue for caviar. Le Bernardin shuns mushy Mississippi paddlefish for firm osetra — often from China, sometimes from Israel, never from depleted Caspian stocks. Ripert is a man of the environment.” [Bloomberg]

Taste-testing the McRib: “In the opinion of this certified judge, it tastes and feels not so much (or anything at all) like barbeque, but rather akin to a thin, wet hunk of mattress padding slathered in sharply tangy sauce and spiked with enough raw onions to make the Lincoln Memorial tear up. ” [CNN]